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A 'Star' Is Reborn

Just after midnight July 26th, 2009, there were reasons to celebrate. A 21 year old was visiting relatives in Tampa, Florida to commemorate a wedding anniversary. The young man and several relatives visited a bar called Gator's in the Treasure Island area right on the water front. Celebratory spirits were to be had with family the small group hadn't seen in some time when the evening took a turn for the worse. A 27 year old named Ralph Decker, allegedly after learning Tyler Moeller played linebacker for Ohio State, made the brash, incalculable decision to cold clock the senior to be sending him flying backwards to the concrete surface below.

The back of Moeller's head struck the concrete below, causing him to lose consciousness. Moeller spent the weekend fighting for his life in a local intensive care unit, only to suffer a violent seizure a week later upon dismissal necessitating further hospitalization. Moeller ultimately would have brain surgery alleviate recurring intra-cranial bleeding causing him to miss the entire 2009 season.

Some questioned whether in lieu of the serious head injury whether Moeller would ever truly be the same player he once was; whether the physical limitations of having suffered such a severe operation would inhibit his ability even to play football ever again. After a lengthy rehabilitation, Moeller put the skepticism to bed by returning to the practice field last Spring, and then finally this Summer was allowed to participate in full-contact drills. Moeller told coaches in the early part of August something to the effect of "if I survive that first hit, I'll be good to go full speed." After bracing through initial contact with no complications, the now 22-year old found the reassurance he needed to return to full game speed.

Fast forward to Thursday night, and Tyler Moeller's entire Ohio State experience seemed to pick up on the developmental arch almost exactly where it left off. That year lost (which may not be so lost after all if Moeller is successful as is expected in petitioning the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility) seeming inconsequential and the man who occupies Ohio State's "star" hybrid defensive back/linebacker position looking like the dominant, impact player many thought he would be going into 2009. Moeller finished the game with a team leading six tackles, two shot-from-a-gun tackles for a loss, a sack, and a forced fumble en route to the 45-7 victory over Marshall. Afterwards, he reflected on the journey:

"I feel like I have something to prove out there and I think I proved it tonight. After that first hit, everything else felt natural."

The culmination of hard work and a long road to recovery was fully realized Monday when the Big Ten Conference named Moeller their Week 1 defensive player of the week. His contributions in assisting the defense in keeping the Marshall offense from scoring so much as a single point were recognized accordingly and the 5th year Buckeye can now get back to doing precisely what made him such a force for the Buckeyes in the first play: playing the game with truly reckless abandon.

If you're of the age where it's still age appropriate to rock a jersey on game days (and given the some 50,000+ circling the Shoe Saturdays in the fall, I'd say it's far more socially acceptable for the more veteran amongst us than at other schools), if you hadn't purchased one for this fall, the decision really shouldn't be that difficult. Congratulations to Tyler; we can't wait to see what you have in store for the encore.

Comments

I am really pumped that Moeller is back and he played like an animal but the beginning of this blog post is ridiculous. Moeller was wronged but I can't help but think he didn't play even the slightest of roles in the altercation. His fault? Not at all...but come on man, this isn't a fairytale. Regardless, I'll look past the beginning of this post and get to the point of it...Moeller had something taken from him that he loved and he has a second chance and boy did he look f'in spectacular against Marshall. I can't wait to watch him play the rest of the year, he is the epitome of silver bullet. Best of luck the rest of the year Tyler!

HAHA! Coming from someone who had to send me an e-mail that said, "go F yourself" you know a whole bunch about true colors don't you. Once again my friend, go troll buckeye commentary. I hear they are in great need of some crappy blog posts

I don't think Tyler walks around with a sign over his head that says OSU football player. Look, I'm not saying Tyler did something that warranted getting punched. I think it is a great story that he is back, I wish him the best, I want him to succeed in every aspect of the word. Just because someone pleas to something in court doesn't mean it is FACT. His attacker got what he deserved and Tyler has regained what was taken from him. In no way was I trying to attack Tyler Moeller at all. I wish him nothing but the best, I loved the way he played against Marshall and I hope he dominates the rest of the year. Geez

Actually, that is precisely what it means -- Decker's allocution before the Court at the time of entering his plea definitively established the facts of the event, and, if Decker had lied about the circumstances of the attack in describing the assault to the judge, he would be guilty of perjury, which itself is typically punishable by several years in prison.

By ambiguously implying, in your initial post, that a kid who nearly lost his life in an unprovoked attack that occurred in front of his family, as established by the assailant's sworn testimony, somehow precipiated said attack against himself, not because you have any proof of Moeller's role in the inciting the attack, but rather because NOWWAKKR KNOWS TRU LIFE AND THIS DONT PASS THE SMELL TEST. Get bent, kid.

NOWAKKR, give it up. TM was assulaulted in FL. Decker admited to it and stated under oath that TM did nothing to instigate it and had eye witnesses stating the same. It's a black and white issue w/ all the facts out. Stop trying to think there was "something else out there". If what you think is true then Decker purjered himself by saying he was completely at fault instead of pointing at TM...really, does that make sense to you?

While I don't know what really happened in that bar, I think your issue with the post lies in how it was written, not the story. The first paragraph just seems out of place. While everyone is up for a good human interest story now and then (see Boston Bill), I think that the way in which it is presented in this post seems forced and over dramatic, and your anger towards the post vented in the story, when we should really be hating on the writing.

Good article, and good call on the TM jersey - I will order one forthwith. If I may be so bold as to offer a bit of syntactical advice, please stop using "in lieu of" when the proper phrase is "in light of." Sorry if I seem like a crusty, curmudgeonly grammar nazi. I love your blog and read it every day.

I disagree. As a former writing tutor (appeal to authority), I say that the first paragraph helps to set the tone and underlying theme of Luke's post. Moreover, it's nice piece of writing overall, especially for a blog piece. What that P.O.S. Decker did was "overly dramatic," but it was also what happened in reality (unfortunately not a "fairytale" but a near nightmare). Luke cannot help it that a story which includes Moeller and Decker would provide such a vivid, almost surreal contrast between good versus douche.

Yeah. VT has done nothing but shoot themselves in the foot though. They don't look prepared.

If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. ~ Bruce Lee

I can't see Mark May and his stupid glasses without getting ticked off. I think its a sickness.

Serenity now!

If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. ~ Bruce Lee

Funny how when 'Bama got roasted by a totally OVER-achieving Utah team in the Sugar Bowl, ESPN immediately went to basketball ish. And the same thing would happen if BSU beat them. But if it were tOSU that lost, it will be a farking College Football special for a week on every one of their channels. I actually have boycotted ESPN for about 5 years and get my sports information from SI. Which has a little less of a man crush on the Special Education Conference. But are a bit more rational with their analysis towards other conferences.

"At critical moments throughout the season, we learned about the character of this football team. This was a team of true character, of true resilience." -- President Barack Obama